Texas Rangers take the lead on Hale Center bomb investigation

HALE CENTER, TX (KCBD) – The Texas Rangers have taken over the investigation into a Thursday morning stabbing they believe is connected to a bomb discovered just blocks from Carr Middle School in Hale Center.

There are still unanswered questions in connection to both the bomb and stabbing. Investigators spoke to ‘people of interest' but have made no arrests.

"They told us to walk outside and then come on over. The principal said there was a real bomb threat," says Carr Middle School student Nando Ramirez. What the principal told Nando was real, although the bomb was not on school grounds it was close enough to the middle school that police evacuated students and area residents.

"I got all nervous wondering what was going on because my son goes to the middle school," says Irma Ramirez who heard about the threat on the news. Worried she rushed from Plainview to her son's school.

"You are thinking is your son okay?" All the students were safe. Administrators put the elementary and high school under semi-lockdown because they were far enough away from the immediate threat.

"We've taken every measure possible to ensure safety of citizens," says Jess Barrera, Hale County District Attorney Investigator.

The day started with a stabbing in the 100 block of 15th Street that sent one man to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Down the road, at the second crime scene, authorities discovered a bomb under the hood of a pick-up truck. Hale Center authorities called in the Lubbock bomb squad. Layered in protective gear the squad carefully blew up the bomb in an open field.

Nando and the other middle school students stayed at the high school until the bell rang Thursday afternoon. "I'm just glad everything turned out to be good and that my son is okay and the other students are okay," says Ramirez.

"This is just the very beginning of the investigation and we will continue until we get it resolved," says Barrera.

The name of the man who was taken to the hospital has not been released.